Dinner for two on Lunar New Year's day...

Spent all morning this day chopping firewood... 

Had to stop after my muscles began to ache... 

Did something less strenuous thereafter... that is, to construct a chicken coop...  

When the day was done, was treated to a sumptuous dinner...

All done up by my suweeto haato... 

First, the toast with red wine...

Today's soup was winter melon with some pork lean meat...

The salad course was avocado with broccoli, celery, chopped onions, spread over some lettuce... 

 

We don't normally take beef, but today's an exception, I suppose...

Aussie beef it was... and the taste was good...

The 'main' course was tomato-based spaghetti with oysters and broccoli... 

Ooh, delicious... 

And to end the meal, home-made apple pie... 

No sugar added, as my missus said... 

Only three apples and one lemon...

Happy CNY to all who celebrate the event...

Garden lunch party with neighbors...

Did a check on the history of this blog and found out that today is actually the 8th anniversary of my blog...

Hosted a garden lunch party for fifteen of our neighbors last Saturday...

That was the fourth straight year that we had been hosting this event...

Hamburgers are not really in my normal 'to-eat' list of stuff...

But this one was pretty good, I must admit...

One of our neighbors made it for the party and hmmm, my missus was surprised upon seeing my munching on that plate...

Bologna sausage, and smoked salmon... specially ordered from Kobe by another neighbor...

Good stuff...

We were very happy to welcome the presence of the parents of one of our neighbors...

They stay in another city and came all the way to join us...

Last year, only the mother came, but this year, the father came along too...

And the maze-gohan onigiri (mixed rice ball?) made by the mother... wooh, full of ingredients and goodies...

Meanwhile, the daughter herself, who is our neighbor, made this walnut-banana cake...

Urmmm, very good texture and taste...

Yet another neighbor, for the last three years or so, presented us with this made-from-scratch soba noodles...

It was just 'straight' soba... unpretentious, and to the point... very wholesome stuff...

With all these good stuff to enjoy, am sure looking forward to hosting our neighbors again next autumn...

Man's cooking?

Once or twice a year, my sweeto haato visits her mum and stay for a few days...
I am always happy to see that they enjoy each others' company during such occasions...
For those few days, I am left to my own devices with regards to food...
The shot below shows yours truly trying to steam some stuff...
Brown rice and sauteed daikon (radish) which was actually pre-prepared by my missus...
And fish, yellow-tail... with vegetables at the far left... my 'original'...

During one 'lonely' weekend, attempted to cook some soup...
The lazy way, actually, where I can literally throw any ingredients I wanted into the iron pot (dutch oven)...
I did this outside, in the garden...
I put in too many ingredients... tofu, mushroom, carrot, garlic, potatoes, onion... more than 10 different types...
(When my missus returned and saw this picture, she couldn't help exclaiming hidoi... iro ha nai... oishiiso ja nai...   (translation: terrible... no color... doesn't look delicious...)

And while sorting out the photos, I can across this shot...
Yaki-meishi kai ankake... or fried rice with bamboo-shell clam gravy...
Cooked not by me but by my sweeto haato...
Compared to the rather bland concoction in both taste and appearance that I had churned out, it is times like this when I am reminded of my lucky stars to have someone cook so well for me...

Avocado salad, among other stuff...

Temperatures these few days have been dipping below freezing point...

We had minus 4 degrees one morning, and there had also been some brief moments of snow...

Not much going on in our potager in this cold season...

I spend almost all my time in weekends chopping wood for our stove... 

And my sweeto haato, as usual, had been very kind to cook me some sumptuous meals...

Had this avocado salad for dinner last night...

We always throw the avocado seeds into our garden and they do germinate...

We have a few of them, growing up to about a meter or so... wonder if they will ever fruit...

Sometimes we have some cheeze (Camembert, this time) with crackers before the main meal...

Fried rice noodles was what we had for lunch today...

Bean sprouts, mushroom, leafy greens, tofu, chillies, a little meat and spring onions...

And for tonight, butter scotch pumpkin salad...

We have been eating pumpkin quite a bit these days...

Am very happy that we can grow this lovely vegetable in our garden...

Zenzai, natto, etc...

Without a doubt, one of my all time favorite sweets...

Zenzai, that is...

Put simply, boiled red beans sweetened lightly with brown sugar and accompanied by shira tama dango (white plain dumpling) and yam...

Strange as it may be, it is wise not to consume this stuff in the evening before bedtime...

Reason is, red beans have a diuretic effect and you might just pee uncontrollably during your sleep...

My missus warned me and I said, 'only a small bowl of zenzai, so should not be any problem'...

That particular occasion, in the deep of the night, I found myself literally blasting out of my futon and dashing towards the toilet...

My missus still enjoys a good laugh over that incident...

Noodles for one of our lunches in the weekends...

Lots of vegetables and just a little meat with a slice of whole grain brown colored o-mochi (rice cake)...

Just what my body yearns for in this winter cold...

Natto or fermented sticky soy beans...

Many non-Japanese are not very fond of eating this sticky stuff...

An acquaintance from Italy once mentioned that the natto reminds him of how a cat feline that has been dead for two weeks, smells... (apologies to cat feline lovers...)

[Update: Of course, I do not agree that the natto smells like a dead cat... (my wife asked me to add this comment after she read this post... ;)]

These days, I like to tell my friends that it took me 15 years to 'like' this dish... 

Maybe not precisely 15 years, but it does take quite a while to get used to this dish as even some Japanese folks do not take it...

Anyway, why natto? 

Depending on our diet (especially the consumption of meat and animal fat), our blood vessels may get clogged up, thus obstructing the smooth flow of blood through the system...

This is one cause for heart attacks or strokes...

Here is where the natto comes in...

Apparently, the fermented sticky elements in the natto have the ability to 'dissolve' the blood clots that accumulate in the vessels...

On normal days, I take a pack during my lunch at work and sometimes, I share a second pack for dinner with my missus...

Aside from the so-called benefits, I think the natto actually taste quite good...

And fresh sardines... yes...

We are fond of ao-zakana 青魚 or 'blue-back' fish as opposed to 'white' fish...

'Blue-back' as in fish with a bluish back, such as the sardine, mackerel, yellow tail, salmon, and tuna, among others...

Ao-zakana is supposed to be a rich source of 

EPA and DHA n−3 fatty acids... and 'supportive but not conclusive research shows that consumption of EPA and DHA [n−3] fatty acids may reduce the risk of coronary heart disease' (source)...

Yes, sardines laced with ginger, garlic, and chillies, and boiled in a dash of soy sauce and Japanese sake... a bit too much on the bony side, but we like the taste of it...

Happy Lunar New Year to folks who celebrate it...

Potluck party with neighbors on a windy autumn's day

We had the honor of hosting the 3rd potluck party for our neighbors last Sunday...

Seven families got together for a day of yakking and for delicious, homemade food...

The wind was pretty strong and the temperatures, somewhat chilly...
But that didn't stop us from having a ball of a time...

First, home-made buckwheat noodles aka soba made from scratch...

According to our friend, the combination was 90% buckwheat flour and 10% wheat flour...
Excellent, excellent taste...

Some salad, oriental style with cucumber, tomatoes, egg, ham...

 Fried dumplings... crunchy on the outside and juicy on the inside...

Ginko nuts... peeled and lightly fried in oil, and served with a pince of salt...

O-yaki... in other words, Japanese yam, lotus root, glutinous rice flour, and seaweed fried in light oil over a flat pan...

This dish was new to us and while the dish did not look that 'photogenic', the taste was good... my missus ended up asking for the recipe...

Update for Alice:
(Managed to ask our neighbor about the recipe... )

Grate Japanese yam（山芋）, lotus root and keep aside...
Mix with 上新粉（top-grade rice flouｒ）
Add seaweed (after softening in water)
Blend all ingredients in bowl and make into patties...
Fry over flat pan over some sesame oil until slightly brown...

Serve with some soy sauce...

Braised(?) pork with fresh veggies done up by one of the husbands...

Our contribution... horse mackeral, deep fried outdoors in our garden...

Fire and utensils were prepared by yours truly while the lady of the house took charge of the cooking...

The fish was immediately dipped into a concoction of vinegar, Japanese rice wine, and lots of fresh vegetables...

And left to season for one night for better taste...
I ate the fish whole... bones, fish head, fins, meat and all...

Plus, vinegrette Spanish Mackeral... also prepared by my suweeto haato on the previous day so as to 'enhance' the flavor...

This dish proved to be very popular among the attendees...

The sweets, various types, were brought all the way from Kobe...

Besides these goodies, there were drinks soft and hard, chocolates, persimmons, grapes, and freshly brewed black mint tea...  

We were very happy that our neighbors enjoy the party as much as we did...

And we are looking forward to hosting the fourth gathering for sure...

The calm after the fury...

Went for a walk in the neighborhood with my love...
The view up in the hills was spectacularly beautiful...
So blue was the sky...
and so serene and peaceful was the Japan Inland Sea...

Still, Typhoon Number 15 had left its unmistakably destructive marks in the hills...

Landslides big and small, here and there, waiting to be cleared...

Drains choked and clogged... water still spilling...

Had a wonderful opportunity this weekend to meet up with some former and current students...

They were/are members of a university club that I had established...

We met up at a restaurant in Takamatsu city... one that serves delicacies using ingredients predominantly sourced from the local area...

While bicycling back home, took a snapshot of this rice field...

To me, this is so typically Japan...

Rice fields in the foreground, and houses lined up in the background...

Another shutter chance came up as I was crossing a river...

Wooh... what a lovely sight, I thought to myself...

The brackish water in the river is actually quite 'black'...

But the reflection from the early evening sun plays magic on it...

I stood there for many minutes... doing nothing but soaking in the scene...

Fishing in mid-summer in Japan...

Am enjoying the second last day of a week's holiday from work...

Had planned to work in the potager...

But the weather was simply too much to bear...

After working for an hour or so under the summer heat, I'd be all drenched up in sweat...

My body then tells me...

'Go to the sea!!' 

I was too feeble to fight this 'order'...

So, for the past few days, I was sea-bound...

I snorkled, I swam, I fished...

And can you believe that yours truly pulled out this colorful fish from the Japan Inland Sea?

The fish is called 'kyusen' in Japanese, and 'multicolorfin rainbowfish' in English...

I think the above specimen is the female version of the colorful male in the previous picture...

Near to the rocks I poked the fishing rod...

And woah... rockfish ('kasago' in Japanese) came a-biting...

Their big mouths mean that they normally swallow the hook wholesale...

And the rockfish turned into boiled fish during dinnertime...

Absolutely lovely with home-made loquat liqueur...

While not snorkeling or fishing, yours truly went hunting for shellfish...

Harvested twenty one mussels on one of those days...

I regretted taking too much as our self-imposed 'quota' is five mussels per person...

My partner casts her magic wand onto the shells, turning them into exquisite pasta...

We 'lengthened' the eating pleasure by spreading the meal out into two dinners...

Why... as we did not want to 'hurry' by over-consuming all the mussels in just one meal... 

Our quota: five mussels per person per meal...

The drums almost always make me cry...

It is not just the rains...
But I really don't know what spell this 'wadaiko' (Japanese drums) thing has on me...

Each time I witness a live wadaiko performance...

I'm almost always moved me to tears...

By tears, I mean, tears that continue to flow and flow throughout the course of the performance...

For the past 13 years, I have had the good fortune of being requested by the Japanese folks at a neighboring town to bring a handful of international students for a cooking event...

This year, I brought seven students from five countries...

They cooked up four lovely dishes while the Japanese folks presented us with some delicious local noodles and mixed sushi, all cooked from scratch...

After consuming the sumptuous meals, the town folks usually invite some group to provide entertainment...

This is third time I think, that the wadaiko troupe 'Man Ten' was invited...
Now, 'Man' does not mean 'man' as in you and me, but 'Full'...
And 'Ten' has got nothing to do with that number of fingers you may have...
Rather, 'Ten' refers to either the 'Heavens' or the 'Sky' depending on the context...
My preferred interpretation, however, of this amazing wadaiko troupe name would be 'Heaven Full' of Stars...

For 'stars' the drummers all are...

Throughout the one hour performance, they bang and slam...

They smile, they yell...

They swing, and they fly... 

Man Ten started off as a family outfit...

There was just mum, dad, and two cute little daughters...

Years down the road, the membership ballooned...

That day, I think about twenty drummers performed... 

I stood as I snapped...

The faster the tempo, the more rapid the snaps...

All the while, tears flowed on...

Look at the expression of the drummer second from left...

The smile, the features... rather clear...

Now, look at the other three drummers in flight...

The stage literally shook, blurring almost all images except the smiling drummer's...

In the final act, as in previous occasions, the leader of Man Ten invited the seven international students to come forward...

Mere minutes later, he had the students gleefully banging in unison on a 3-3-7 rhythm...

As he spruced the routine up... dancing, Japanese fan in hand...

Exhilarating just to watch... I must say... 

Oh yes, the food...

This is the mixed sushi with compliments from the town folks...

There is always so much food there that I normally choose to bring this home to be consumed the following day... 

Cambodian style stir fry vegetables with beef slices...

I couldn't control myself as I headed for multiple helpings...

 

The mabo-tofu, Szechuan style...

Was too engrossed with eating that I forgot taking shots of the Tomyam soup and the Vietnamese curry...

I certainly looked forward to being part of the event again next summer...